IS ZILLOW AN ACCURATE WAY TO GET THE VALUE OF YOUR HOME?
The fact is that you can look up anything online, literally, but the answers and information may not be the best. There is a ton of good information available, if you dig around in the right places, however, there is a ton of bad information out there too. Users must be careful to land on reputable resources instead of the many unethical ones that are online.
While Zillow has grown in popularity in recent years, many of the tools they have available for buyers and sellers to use, may not be the most reliable. Many times, Zillow’s Zestimates vary wildly from home to home, and are dependant on several factors such as what the home previously sold for, what amenities are included, location of the home, size of the home, and several other factors.
Depending on who you ask, most real estate agents agree that Zillow’s home value prices are off, and sometimes by thousands of dollars, so you must be careful when trying to use their site to find the value of your home. Zillow uses an Assessed Value as opposed to Market Value, which is two different things.
Assessed Value–is based on a percentage of what the home was appraised at, which is how your property taxes are figured out. Usually, the assessed value is less than the market value.
Market Value–is the actual amount that the home is worth in the market at the time you’re trying to sell or buy it. The market value is usually more than the assessed value.
Should you decide to use Zillow with regard to determining how much a home is valued for before selling it or before buying it, keep in mind the pros and cons of using Zillow to find the answers you are seeking.
Cons
Their value tool is frequently incorrect, misleading buyers and sellers. It also makes real estate agents job harder.
They frequently have outdated information which can be annoying to buyers and sellers.
They make a profit from selling ad space to agents, and users often get redirected to agents that do not know anything about the home they are selling or buying.
Their premium subscriptions are expensive.
They include non-listing agents as well as listing agents, confusing buyers and sellers as to who the agent is on the property.
Their leads can be of low quality for agents that are subscribed.
It’s expensive for agents to get their own leads.
Pros
Your listing can be seen by millions of users.
They list non-listing agent properties also, so you have access to even more listings.
An agent’s experience and skills can be seen by a large audience.
New agents or agents with just a few properties to list, can do so much easier.
Zillow does show you the way prices are going, in a specific area either up or down. This can help you decide on the area you are looking to purchase a home in.
Agents can become a Zillow Premier Agent, this allows agents to pay Zillow to obtain more traffic for their listings.
Zillow Premier Agents get a WordPress website, although it doesn’t work well with MLS listings.
What is Done Right on Zillow?
As you may have noticed, their Zestimates are not the most accurate things on the site, which is why many experienced real estate agents do not suggest using it to get the value of the home you want to sell or are buying.
However, Zillow does offer some other great features that are very useful to buyers as well as sellers if you avoid using their Zestimates tool. For example, one such tool is their pricing estimates on how much a home previously was purchased for, these prices are public records, so most of the time what Zillow lists as a price for recently sold homes is fairly accurate.
Some of their most accurate and useful resources include:
Their calculator feature performs well.
The recent sales prices of nearby and/or similar homes.
Comparable sales prices are pretty accurate when used correctly.
A map of the listings that they show is a good tool to use allowing for users to see what the area is like and what is nearby the property you’re researching. Zillow uses Bing maps for this feature.
Their listings platform is easy to use and includes a lot of information.
Their data on past owners and what the property sold for is top-notch.
Their app for smartphones is excellent, and quite useful when you want information on a home you are driving up to.
Final Thoughts
As you may have noticed, there is quite a bit of negative information about Zillow. This is just to keep you informed, they are still the number one site you will see when researching for real estate online. Should you choose to use Zillow to find the value of your home before you sell it or for the one you are looking to purchase, we hope that you will keep the information we have shared here with you in mind.
By being aware of the negative and positive information provided about Zillow, your home buying or home selling journey can be a better experience for you and your family. However, feel free to use Zillow during your research, just keep in mind the points we’ve presented to you. We hope that we have helped you along your way to becoming a new home buyer or a new home seller.
Whether you are buying or selling a home, keep in mind the best way to do either is to contact an experienced real estate agent in your area to help you with the process, especially one that knows the area and has a few sales or purchases under their belt. Zillow can be used for many of the aspects mentioned above, but their home value tool is not to be trusted.
Another thing to consider, should you decide to use Zillow to find out how much your home is worth, Zillow does not know everything about your home and area as a licensed real estate agent might. For example, Zillow doesn’t know that you’ve just built a new deck onto your home, or that you’ve just spent $20,000 on a new garage. These are things to consider when entering your information on the Zillow website. The most accurate price you’re going to receive is from a licensed agent. We wish you good luck in your search!
